In a communiqué released by the NFF sometime in March, it announced the appointment of Belgian Tom Saintfiet as the new Technical Director of the country. About the same time, Kadiri Ikhana was appointed the coach of the senior female national team, while John Obuh was also retained as the coach of the national Under 20 side. According to the communiqué, which was signed by Emeka Inyama, an executive member of the committee, Saintfiet will earn a monthly salary of US$20,000.
Also, in a statement made to BBC Sports by the NFF spokesman Ademola Olajire “Mr Saintfiet will sign a four-year deal. The executive committee has ratified his recommendation… there will be a Nigerian assistant for Saintfiet and this appointment will be revealed soon”
However, about two weeks ago, Sports Minister Bolaji Abdulahi told the football authorities to revoke this agreement, leading to the NFF chief, Aminu Maigari, to come out on Thursday, 28th June, 2012 and say that there is no job for Saintfiet any longer. The Belgian, who has worked in other countries such as Namibia, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia, under various capacities (mostly as coach), threatened to take legal action against the NFF. He has also promised to drag the Nigerian football governing body before FIFA.
However, the NFF chief, Aminu Maigari has called the Belgian’s bluff. In a statement he made to the BBC, “Mr Saintfiet came for an interview as the technical director but he never signed any contractual agreement with the Nigeria Football Federation… a communiqué is not an agreement nor binding contract… FIFA are serious-minded people and we are not overly concerned about his threat to go there… FIFA will demand a contract or agreement from him”.
